Personally, I'm not really a big fan of Force Impulse Gundam. It's a decent design in my opinion, but nothing too outstanding. It's certainly unique, with the 3-piece mecha docking formation design is inherited from the original Gundam. There are a few lead Gundams before Force Impulse Gundam that use similar concept, for example Double Zeta Gundam, S Gundam and V Gundam. However, the separate components of these Gundams can transform into fighter-jet like mecha that are functional outside the Gundam formation. Can't say the same for Impulse Gundam though. The Chest Flyer is obviously the upper body of the Gundam with the arms folded around the head to try to hide it and with the rifle pointing forward. How to view it as real supporting mecha is beyond me. XD

I like the idea of the slight transformation gimmick put into the design of the separated components. Its first docking sequence when the Gundam debuts in Episode 1 of "Gundam SEED Destiny" is quite cool to watch, but I don't find it to be that remarkable over time. On the other hand, I really love the MG treatment of this Gundam, which gave it an even more complex docking gimmick with a much sharper redesign. ^^ The design from the anime doesn't seem all that great to me, but the MG version is so much more outstanding.

Apart from the "Gundam RX-78-2 factor", element of designs from Strike Gundam are inherited as well. The Force Silhouette is pretty much the Aile pack of the later. As a matter of fact, all of Impulse Gundam's weapon packs are modeled after the ones used by Strike Gundam, just a lot more powerful I believe.

For this BB Senshi kit, while the entire docking gimmick is absent, most of Force Impulse Gundam's features, including the weapons, Core Splendor and Force Silhouette are given. A few points from these features are missing as well, which will definitely be mentioned through this review series, but they don't really make this kit bad. A display stand is included, with a little bit of its own nifty features to somewhat make up for the omitted gimmicks. If not mistaken, for quite a while when it was released, this is the only BB Senshi kit with a display stand included. Many other BB Senshi kits from "Gundam SEED Destiny" that came out after it are shown posing on a display stand in their manuals, but all of them refer to the one in this kit, which you need to purchase separately of course.

The Gundam itself is from the time before BB Senshi Sangokuden, where the kits have more parts and are slightly more articulated. Another BB Senshi model from "Gundam SEED Destiny" that I built, Destiny Gundam would be another "testament" to the "pre-BB Senshi Sangokuden" era kit design XD

Content.

Runners A2 and A1 - Contains parts for the Gundam.

Runner B - Contains parts for the Force Silhouette and weapons.

Foil stickers and polycap set.

Unused parts between different poses can be store behind the display stand.

Possible release as mentioned, but the chances are pretty slim. This BB Senshi kit was out more than 5 years ago. I don't see why Bandai would go back and release the secondary Gundams of a previous show, with the BB Senshi line focusing on "SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors" right now, and that all the newer kits are no longer using the same articulation design from that product period. Plans for variations were made, but never received the chance to be released unfortunately.

Unfortunately again, because of the design for variations incorporated on the runners. The colors of certain parts are totally omitted. ^^; Some tedious paint job to make the finished kit close to the intended color scheme is well expected for Force Impulse Gundam. ^^;

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Last posting for HGM 1/550 Dendrobium, and normally (for other regular model kits and figures) this would be loaded with pictures of action poses. Then again, how do you pose a little box with claw arms and a giant cannon? XD

GP03S's head is turned to the right there ...

... and now left. ^^The Gundam figure is just too small to be noticed when the focus is on the Mobile Armor. ^^;

Somewhat plain when viewed from above.

All weapon containers open ...... for nothing at all XD

Deploying the claw arms.

The memorable scene against Cima's Gerbera Tetra.No dedicated spot on the figure or extra part given for the beam cannon to be attached to actually recreate the fight scene though, unfortunately.

Versus Neue Ziel.

Go for the I-Field Generator!

Beam saber fight!The clear yellow beam saber part is actually from HGUC Marasai, not from the actual kit of Neue Ziel itself.

Definitely not as awesome as the fight scene from the actual anime. Neue Ziel is somewhat better than Dendrobium in terms of posing, with movable "shoulder armors" and 2 main arms plus 4 sub arms to play around with. Then again, I must say that both models are really just meant for display, not for any "action pose" at all. ^^;

One of my more favorite scenes: Neue Ziel grabs Dendrobium and presses onto it from behind is not really possible with these 2 models. The sub arms of Neue Ziel come with no joint to wrap them onto Dendrobium.

Unless you're a huge fan of Dendrobium or "UC0083: Stardust Memory", or of model kits with very unconventional design, I don't see much point getting this kit really. Tons of painting required, even for the most basic components like the weapon containers and rear engine portion of the kit, not to mention the actual MS figure of Gundam GP03S. ^^; Also, just part-swapping for all its gimmicks, which I imagine would turn off many people's interest. ^^;

Getting past all those "limitations", the model kit is pretty good for display, just like Neue Ziel from the same series. ^^

No really good size comparison for Dendrobium it seems. ^^; It does seem somewhat bigger than HGUC Gundam RX-78-2 - an average HG Gunpla. However, it's also important to note that the Mobile Armor has an unbalanced size distribution of its various components. So, it's really difficult to compare it with any other Gunpla in my collection. ^^;

Even Neue Ziel looks more like a humanoid MA that isn't of good comparison with Dendrobium, even though the one shown here is from the same Gunpla series as the later.